V/Gov Anuphap Rodkwan Yodrabum has led the Phuket Provincial Narcotics Prevention and Suppression Command Center for years and overseen many drug-related arrests across island.
He chaired the 4th annual meeting of the Phuket Provincial Narcotics Prevention and Suppression Command Center yesterday (Feb 28), joined by various officials from relevant government agencies.
“The narcotic that is spreading most and quickest across the island of Phuket is methamphetamine due to a huge decline in price,” V/Gov Anuphap said.
“This is mainly due to a steep decline in the price of the drug which has increased availability considerably,” he added.
The second most prevalent drug is crystal meth (ya ice), closely followed by majijuana (cannabis), V/Gov Anuphap confirmed. Heroin and cocaine were classed as niche drugs and not as widely available, he added.
He further stated that after ‘Kratom’ was withdrawn from the illegal category 5 narcotic list, actual drug-related arrests had fallen when compared to before. Drug users are often those classisfied as being of a good moral standing in society, V/Gov Anuphap said.
However, there was still much work to be done from an enforcement perspective in combating the spread of drugs, meth in particular.
“Phuket has instructed all relevant agencies to clamp-down in a rigorous manner to intercept and suppress drugs coming onto the the island in an effort to break the cycle of distribution and usage across the island,” V/Gov Anuphap said.